With the environmental and climate
crisis proliferating, the Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd, is becoming
increasingly important. So, how do you convey that importance to your students and
engage them in saving our Earth for generations to come? Here are five creative
ways.
Recycling experiment
The easiest type of recycling that you
can do in the classroom is paper recycling.
>> Use some of the paper you have lying around (it must be
plastic-free), whether some old drawings or pages from old notebooks.
>> Soak the small, torn pieces of paper in water and let them sit for a couple of days.
>> You will need a kitchen mixer to turn the soaked pieces into a paper pulp.
>> Take a window screen (with mesh) and strain the pulp, then press it into the shape of the paper.
>> Use a cloth and press it on top of the paper to remove excess water.
>> Let it dry for another day or so, and use it to draw or write Earth-friendly drawings and messages.
>> Soak the small, torn pieces of paper in water and let them sit for a couple of days.
>> You will need a kitchen mixer to turn the soaked pieces into a paper pulp.
>> Take a window screen (with mesh) and strain the pulp, then press it into the shape of the paper.
>> Use a cloth and press it on top of the paper to remove excess water.
>> Let it dry for another day or so, and use it to draw or write Earth-friendly drawings and messages.
Besides giving an example of how
recycling works, this exercise shows that recycling takes a lot of work
(tearing the paper, soaking it), resources (water, electric power) and leaves a
residue (excess pulp or trimmed paper edges). Recycling is not a miracle solution
to excessive waste. Point out the other solutions - reducing the amount of
waste and reusing whatever can be reused, and note that recycling is actually
the last resort of responsible waste management.
Plant something
The most impressive action to do with
students is perhaps to plant a tree or a shrub. Use the opportunity to talk
about the overall importance of trees as oxygen makers, natural pollution
filters and animal habitats. If you don't have space, or lack special
permission for the planting a tree, you can plant seeds of trees or flowers.
Planting the seed mixtures made for pollinators gives you an excuse to talk
about the significance of bees and butterflies to the living world and human
agriculture.
Debate
The Earth Day is a perfect opportunity
for older students to debate on relevant hot topics such as climate change,
fossil fuels, pollution, future of food production and consumerism. Create
teams that will approach the chosen topic from different standpoints and give
them about five resources each. A debate is a dynamic way to learn, as well as
to debunk some myths that can the children have probably already encountered
through the media.
Glasshouse experiment
Climate change, or global warming, is
a phenomenon in which certain gasses prevent the heat from escaping from the
Earth back into space, much like a glasshouse would. You can explain this with
a simple experiment. You will need a larger bowl, a thermometer, a black cloth
or a paper, and plastic foil.
Put the thermometer into the bowl,
cover it with a black cloth and leave it in a sunny spot. After several
minutes, check and note the temperature. Then, remove the black cloth and put
the plastic foil. By using a permanent marker, write chemical symbols of
glasshouse gasses - CO2, CH4, CFC, etc. - on the foil. Watch as the heat rises,
but be careful about the thermometer - it can get so hot inside the bowl that
it could pop.
Exchange and give away unwanted things
Excess litter and waste are one of the
main environmental issues today. A responsible citizen of the Earth should act
responsibly towards his belongings to avoid adding to the problem of waste
generation. Tell your students to bring their unwanted clothes or toys that are
still in good condition. They can exchange items among themselves first. After
that phase is complete, you can collect them into a box to give away to
charity.
Explain that through this practice
you're doing two good deeds - you're making someone happy by giving them things
they might need, and you're preventing the hardly-recyclable items from ending
up and piling up in a landfill.
Looking for some low prep options this Earth Day? Why not check out my Earth Day Craft Activity, Earth Day Celebration Study, or Earth Day Scavenger Hunt? Students love these resources and learn so much about our earth from them.
